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I was very overweight until my late 30's, something clicked and I lost the weight and almost 10 years later I am lighter than I have ever been during my adult l

I was very overweight until my late 30's, something clicked and I lost the weight and almost 10 years later I am lighter than I have ever been during my adult life. I have found that it is possible to change. Becoming lighter has encouraged me to exercise but what I eat has always been the main factor in what I weigh.

nickybearblog 4y ago
> Becoming lighter has encouraged me to exercise but what I eat has always been the main factor in what I weigh. That's exactly what I've found. I can exercise two or three hours a day; means nothing if I'm not watching my calories. Congrats on the weight loss!
- apelapan 4y ago
  This seems to be the most common situation, but it is not the only one. Plenty of people have lost significant weight by taking up exercise and not doing any active, concious changes to their diet. I myself have lost 15kg over the past couple of years, after going from zero high-intensity physical activity on a normal week to a few hours of running and swimming every week. I'm sure there are some unconscious changes to my eating, in particular afternoon/evening snacking. But that just happened without me trying or planning for it. I still eat at the same lunch restaurants and it is still my wife making me dinner most evenings.
- bowsamic 4y ago
  That's why it's sometimes better, especially for people with low muscle mass and not currently obese, to concentrate on liftings weights instead. If you do cardio to lose weight then eating just undoes any benefit, since the body is not very damaged and doesn't need to repair much. If you lift weights using a progressive overloading regime, you actually need a lot of calories over time to actually repair your body. Also, if you lose weight with only cardio, then you will end up quite skinny and have to be really careful not to put it back on pretty quickly. As a bonus, lifting weights is often more fun for most than doing steady cardio, which is often extremely boring
  - nradov 4y ago
    Repairing the tissue damage from weight does take a lot of energy (calories) but it also requires a high intake of essential amino acids. Otherwise muscle growth will be slow and the risk of injury increases. Many people aren't getting enough, and as we age our digestive system becomes less efficient at absorbing those nutrients. The easiest way to get enough is to eat a couple scoops of whey protein powder, but there are other good options for those willing to put a little more effort into nutrition planning.
    - bowsamic 4y ago
      Yeah protein powder is actually a really good food
fallous 4y ago
There are many excellent benefits of exercise, but substantial weight loss is not among them. The human body evolved to be really efficient, especially in aerobic activity. A predator whose main method of hunting is long-distance running prey to exhaustion isn't going to last very long if it burns ludicrous amounts of calories during such activity since no predator is 100% successful. There's approximately 3500 calories per pound of fat and the average human will burn about 100 calories per mile of sustained running. If you want to lose a pound a week (a pretty healthy weight loss rate) you can either run 5 miles a day without changing your diet or skip 2 energy drinks a day without changing your exercise regime. Unfortunately many people that think a big workout is burning huge amounts of fat often indulge in excess eating as a reward which leads to even less weight loss (or even weight gain). Again, exercise has a ludicrous number of benefits and absolutely should be encouraged for those benefits but weight loss shouldn't be included among them.
- kerrsclyde 4y ago
  I agree, I have tried to train my brain into thinking weightloss and fitness are separate entities. It surprises me that this invalid logic is continually reinforced by the media and even health professionals. The most weight I ever lost was during 2020 lockdown when I made the consious decision to eat a bit less. I did virtually no exercise, one 30min walk each day, and I had no access to fitness equipment at home.
  - jeltz 4y ago
    Same here, I love running and burn a ton of calories per week running but it is easier for me to lose weight while not running.
- crispyambulance 4y ago
  I agree with the adage that one loses weight in the kitchen and gets toned in the gym. But Diet and exercise are very much convolved. Many folks gain weight very slowly. It creeps up on them. Typical scenario is a sedentary office job, family responsibilities, and little time for oneself. Calories are very much cumulative, so all it takes is some regular snacking (or stress-eating) to get the weight trend going up and, whoops, 20 extra lbs can easily appear in a year. A lot of this happened during the pandemic. Losing that 20lbs, in such scenarios, can be done with a simple exercise regimen (or even some thoughtfully increased physical activity). One thing that's interesting is that you DON'T have to RUN a mile to burn 100 Calories. You can burn the same amount, 100 Calories, by walking a mile. It takes longer, of course, but it's easier on the joints especially for overweight people.
bowsamic 4y ago
Yes but you need the "something clicked", and often that something cannot be taught or even described. It's like one day you wake up and suddenly you have motivation for something you never had before, with no discernible cause. Just a random "act of God". That's why I find it impossible to blame anyone who cannot motivate themselves to better themselves or improve their situation. I know all too well what it is like to be totally unmotivated, and how fickle and random it is when that motivation finally arrives.
- cheza 4y ago
  I second that! I've tried to explain the "click" before but to no avail. You just wake up one day and have the motivation. I wish you could DECIDE to have it!
- kerrsclyde 4y ago
  Yes, if you could recreate that spark of motivation for others you'd be a billionaire. For me it was a crazy little thing, nothing to do with being fat-shamed or even feeling guilty about my weight. I heard a radio journalist doing a show at a UK Slimming World meeting (or Weight Watchers). He was essentially poking fun at those attending, saying they would never keep any weight losses off. I thought was pretty mean, so I went to my local Slimming World meeting and signed up. I lost weight, learnt about healthier eating, tracking my weight etc. I don't go to Slimming World now but the good habits started there.
thn-gap 4y ago
I can't find the source now, but i recall reading that if you're obese by the time you turn 18, there's very low chances that you'll ever go down in the rest of your lifetime. It's not impossible, but really tough.

nickybearblog 4y ago

> Becoming lighter has encouraged me to exercise but what I eat has always been the main factor in what I weigh. That's exactly what I've found. I can exercise two or three hours a day; means nothing if I'm not watching my calories. Congrats on the weight loss!

apelapan 4y ago
This seems to be the most common situation, but it is not the only one. Plenty of people have lost significant weight by taking up exercise and not doing any active, concious changes to their diet. I myself have lost 15kg over the past couple of years, after going from zero high-intensity physical activity on a normal week to a few hours of running and swimming every week. I'm sure there are some unconscious changes to my eating, in particular afternoon/evening snacking. But that just happened without me trying or planning for it. I still eat at the same lunch restaurants and it is still my wife making me dinner most evenings.
bowsamic 4y ago
That's why it's sometimes better, especially for people with low muscle mass and not currently obese, to concentrate on liftings weights instead. If you do cardio to lose weight then eating just undoes any benefit, since the body is not very damaged and doesn't need to repair much. If you lift weights using a progressive overloading regime, you actually need a lot of calories over time to actually repair your body. Also, if you lose weight with only cardio, then you will end up quite skinny and have to be really careful not to put it back on pretty quickly. As a bonus, lifting weights is often more fun for most than doing steady cardio, which is often extremely boring
- nradov 4y ago
  Repairing the tissue damage from weight does take a lot of energy (calories) but it also requires a high intake of essential amino acids. Otherwise muscle growth will be slow and the risk of injury increases. Many people aren't getting enough, and as we age our digestive system becomes less efficient at absorbing those nutrients. The easiest way to get enough is to eat a couple scoops of whey protein powder, but there are other good options for those willing to put a little more effort into nutrition planning.
  - bowsamic 4y ago
    Yeah protein powder is actually a really good food

fallous 4y ago

There are many excellent benefits of exercise, but substantial weight loss is not among them. The human body evolved to be really efficient, especially in aerobic activity. A predator whose main method of hunting is long-distance running prey to exhaustion isn't going to last very long if it burns ludicrous amounts of calories during such activity since no predator is 100% successful. There's approximately 3500 calories per pound of fat and the average human will burn about 100 calories per mile of sustained running. If you want to lose a pound a week (a pretty healthy weight loss rate) you can either run 5 miles a day without changing your diet or skip 2 energy drinks a day without changing your exercise regime. Unfortunately many people that think a big workout is burning huge amounts of fat often indulge in excess eating as a reward which leads to even less weight loss (or even weight gain). Again, exercise has a ludicrous number of benefits and absolutely should be encouraged for those benefits but weight loss shouldn't be included among them.

kerrsclyde 4y ago
I agree, I have tried to train my brain into thinking weightloss and fitness are separate entities. It surprises me that this invalid logic is continually reinforced by the media and even health professionals. The most weight I ever lost was during 2020 lockdown when I made the consious decision to eat a bit less. I did virtually no exercise, one 30min walk each day, and I had no access to fitness equipment at home.
- jeltz 4y ago
  Same here, I love running and burn a ton of calories per week running but it is easier for me to lose weight while not running.
crispyambulance 4y ago
I agree with the adage that one loses weight in the kitchen and gets toned in the gym. But Diet and exercise are very much convolved. Many folks gain weight very slowly. It creeps up on them. Typical scenario is a sedentary office job, family responsibilities, and little time for oneself. Calories are very much cumulative, so all it takes is some regular snacking (or stress-eating) to get the weight trend going up and, whoops, 20 extra lbs can easily appear in a year. A lot of this happened during the pandemic. Losing that 20lbs, in such scenarios, can be done with a simple exercise regimen (or even some thoughtfully increased physical activity). One thing that's interesting is that you DON'T have to RUN a mile to burn 100 Calories. You can burn the same amount, 100 Calories, by walking a mile. It takes longer, of course, but it's easier on the joints especially for overweight people.

bowsamic 4y ago

Yes but you need the "something clicked", and often that something cannot be taught or even described. It's like one day you wake up and suddenly you have motivation for something you never had before, with no discernible cause. Just a random "act of God". That's why I find it impossible to blame anyone who cannot motivate themselves to better themselves or improve their situation. I know all too well what it is like to be totally unmotivated, and how fickle and random it is when that motivation finally arrives.

cheza 4y ago
I second that! I've tried to explain the "click" before but to no avail. You just wake up one day and have the motivation. I wish you could DECIDE to have it!
kerrsclyde 4y ago
Yes, if you could recreate that spark of motivation for others you'd be a billionaire. For me it was a crazy little thing, nothing to do with being fat-shamed or even feeling guilty about my weight. I heard a radio journalist doing a show at a UK Slimming World meeting (or Weight Watchers). He was essentially poking fun at those attending, saying they would never keep any weight losses off. I thought was pretty mean, so I went to my local Slimming World meeting and signed up. I lost weight, learnt about healthier eating, tracking my weight etc. I don't go to Slimming World now but the good habits started there.

thn-gap 4y ago

I can't find the source now, but i recall reading that if you're obese by the time you turn 18, there's very low chances that you'll ever go down in the rest of your lifetime. It's not impossible, but really tough.